"...throw roses into the abyss and say: 'here is my thanks to the monster who didn't succeed in swallowing me alive."

― Friedrich Nietzsche

"So, you're back again," Syy leaned on the bar, bright eyes locked on Ven. "Where does that 'Cain' take you, anyways?"

"To his home, such as it is," Ven tipped back a beer, somehow this place had drafts from Earth. "I don't know where, exactly."

"We'll wherever you go off to, Kalina's pretty upset with you," Syy chuckled. "First, you steal her return, then you up and leave without her again."

"I'm not her babysitter... if she wants to come, she can come," Ven shrugged. "If she's willing to spend an eternity with Cain..."

"You seem different than before... aged," Syy leaned in close. "You've got a few frown lines on your perfect face!"

"A few millennia will do that..."

Ven paled. His time with Cain had taught him much, but he was a half-step from madness. The same desert, day after day, dragged on his soul. Not only that, but his system ignored the time dilation. He was still ninety-nine years from his next wish.

"So the murderer is messing with time as well..."

"Hmmm?"

"Nothing, nothing," Syy pushed another bottle at Ven. "So, have you made any progress with runes? That's why Cain's training you, right?"

"Some..."

Ven rolled his eyes. This woman wasn't very skilled at covert investigation. She just asked him questions and expected to get the answers.

"So tight-lipped," Syy narrowed her eyes. "Why, can't you tell me?"

"I could," Ven raised an eyebrow. "But I'm still trying to figure out what you are, exactly."

"What do you mean," The woman cupped her face and grinned. "I'm Syy, the lovable squire of Madame Kalina!"

"Uh-huh, sure you are..."

Ven ignored Syy's antics and rose to his feet. Who knew when Cain would scoop him up again, he needed to soak up the sights and smells of other beings.

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"I'm off to hit the markets," His finger poked her between the eyes. "You're free to join, but stop interrogating me."

Syy rubbed her forehead, then scampered after him.

"So, how many runes can you draw?"

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"He is of the Titan... and something else..."

A silver robe, bound into the shape of an arm, swept aside the projection of Ven and Syy. The mirrored figure rooted through its portal fragments.

"Another result of that failed experiment, perhaps?"

The mask shook, a collage of frowns. His greatest failure, the folly that left him locked in this cursed place.

"Here we are..."

The robed hand retreated from the shards, a single piece in his grasp. A flick reverted the fragment to a man, large of frame and wild of eye.

"Tell me everything you know about 'Vendak Soth.'"

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"The rail line is complete, now all we have to do is continue expansion..."

Mara flipped through a pile of reports. Dozens arrived every day, with notices and agreements to use the new transport line from here to Hewl.

"The Ori have sent another messenger, should I..."

"Leave him in the cold," Mara's voice held a fine edge. "If the King wants to treat with them, fine, but the guild will have nothing to do with them."

"Fine," Aangor grumbled. "But Ooulin always kept up appearances with them. He saw their future and it doesn't bode well for their enemies."

"We'll have to change that," Mara scratched a line on the wooden table. "They're growing too fast, their influence is global and it's only been a century."

"Without an Earth Deity, we can't do much," Aangor shrugged. "Ooulin could push them when needed, but I'm no match for their army of slaves."

"What about Ven, or the King?"

"The King will do what he must to keep his kingdom safe," Aangor grumbled. "As for Ven... his power isn't well known."

Mara leaned back and rubbed her temples. Ven could fight, and maybe win, but he couldn't be used as a deterrent. All the Earth Deities were known, and he wasn't among them.

"Maybe Cain can..."

"Forget that nonsense," Aangor laughed. "His help always ends in blood, if I could keep him from Ven, I would."

"Well then, what should I do?"

She was cornered, backed into a wall by competitors and enemies, all masked as friends.

"Grow stronger," Aangor's hand fell onto her shoulder. "Until then, you might have to compromise."

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"Oh piss off.."

Ven rolled over in bed, only to find a blanket of sand on his body. The purple lightning above confirmed his fears.

"Cain, you bastard, you promised me some rest!"

"Shut up and follow me!"

Ven was hauled by the neck toward the distant clouds. Sky blurred until they stood just below the cosmic ocean.

"Look, just there!"

Ven followed Cain's finger to a small, irregular blotch. It twisted and spun, a tentacled mass that drew in the stars.

"What is it?"

Ven squinted as he dangled from Cain's grasp. The octo-smudge skittered and flowed, never still. Colored like a night sky, it was easy to see in the blue of this strange space.

"I don't know," Cain's face split into a grin, a child on Christmas. "But, it's getting closer!"

"Then why bring me here!"

Ven struggled against Cain's hold. Whatever that thing was, it raised distinct alarms in his head.

"I think it has something to do with your rune," Cain shook Ven to quiet his resistance. "I spotted it not long after we got back, but it's sped up quite a bit since then."

"So, let's just move out of the way..."

Cain tossed Ven to the ground, disdain on his face.

"We're in a complex layer of multiversal space, I can't just up and move this place."

"Then we leave," Ven shrugged, eyes on the shadow beast. "That thing is a fast path to a painful death."

"How do you know," Cain squinted at him. "I can't sense its power at all..."

"Neither can I," Ven shivered. "But my instincts tell me to run, fast and far."

The creature pulsed, another light absorbed into its core. It had grown, now the size of a small moon.

"Well, my instincts tell me something else," Blood mist raised from Cain's shoulders, his eyes lost to madness. "They're screaming... insisting that this thing will make for a real fight!"